Trup – Nie

It has been relatively recently I discovered this release even though it’s released three years ago! Still, I decided to give it a spin and see if I was missing anything. I’m talking of a Nie (No), five-tracker album from a Polish black metal act, Trup. Apart from the murky and dark cover, judging from the visual side, there was nothing telling me about the true nature of this band and its 2022 release. First thing worthy of notice is band’s line-up, comprised of; p (guitars & vocals), b (vocals) and v (drums & vocals). I would say, an unusual formation, even for black metal standards! Another interesting feature are the song-titles:

1. 29

2. 30

3. 31

4. NIE

5. 33

Finally, the sound that this Warsaw based trio are creating is rather filthy, misanthropic, unsettling, hypnotic and frightening black metal. Apart from black metal, their music features additional dissonant sludge parts, creating these hellish and oppressive soundscapes that are the main feature on the album.

It might sound evil and extremely unpleasant/offensive at first, but with each new listening it felt as one pays attention to even more details and different layers and textures on Nie. Multiple dark, low and suffocating harsh vocals are coupled with dissonant and pummeling riffs and then topped with a loud and rumbling rhythms of steady and bouncing drums. In stead of focusing on one particular song (although I would say that the last song “33” with its twelve minutes playing time is bit too long for my taste?!), I think to really experience this album you need to listen to it in full and on a continuous repeat. In short, this is sludgy black metal noise that deserves your full attention when listening to this a little more than half-hour of despair and anguish.

To answer the initial question raised above; I think Nie was worth listening to here more than three years after its official release, and I think it’s the biggest compliment I can give to this mind-blowing, nasty and misanthropic sludge/black metal trio from Poland.

For further info on this pretty old, but not less good, half-hour of despair and anguish visit label’s bandcamp.